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UNIVERSITY      OF      ILLINOIS  BULLETIN 

Issued  Weekly 

Vol.  XX                                .        September  11,  1922  No.  2 

[Entered  as  second-class  matter  December   1 1,    1912,   at  the  post  office  at  Urbana,   Illinois  under  the 

act  of  August  24,    1012.     Acceptance  for  mailing  at  the  special  rate  of  postage  provided  for  in 
section   1103,  Act  of  October  3,    1917,   authorized  July   31,1918.] 


EDUCATIONAL  RESEARCH  CIRCULAR  NO.  12 


BUREAU  OF  EDUCATIONAL  RESEARCH 
COLLEGE  OF  EDUCATION 

Announcements  of  the  Bureau  of  Educational 
Research  for  1922-23 


PUBLISHED  BY  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 
URBANA 


370 

I7»,    ^  -I   1 


Announcements  of  the  Bureau  of  Educational  Research 

For  1922-23 

Additions  to  staff.  Two  important  additions  have  been  made 
to  the  staff  of  the  Bureau  of  Educational  Research.  Dr.  C.  W. 
Odell,  who  for  the  past  two  years  has  conducted  an  investigation  of 
"Uses  of  Intelligence  Tests  as  a  Basis  of  School  Organization  and 
Instruction"  and  who  received  his  doctor's  degree  from  the  Univer- 
sity of  Illinois  last  June,  will  take  over  many  of  the  duties  and 
responsibilities  formerly  carried  by  the  assistant  director.  Miss  Ruth 
Streitz  has  been  employed  for  the  purpose  of  conducting  research 
with  reference  to  the  handling  of  exceptional  children,  both  dull  and 
bright,  and  for  rendering  assistance  in  connection  with  such  children 
to  the  schools  of  the  state.  Miss  Streitz,  because  of  her  varied  ex- 
perience with  public  schools  and  of  her  training,  is  especially  fitted 
for  this  work.  She  has  taught  in  the  kindergarten  and  in  the  high 
school,  and  has  served  as  Director  of  Attendance  and  Welfare  in 
the  public  schools  of  Madison,  Wisconsin.  During  the  past  year 
she  has  been  doing  graduate  work  at  the  University  of  Chicago  and 
has  had  some  contact  with  the  child  study  department  of  the  Chicago 
Public  Schools.  The  addition  of  these  two  persons  to  its  staff  will 
enable  the  Bureau  of  Educational  Research  to  increase  materially 
its  activities  during  the  coming  year. 

Proposed  projects.  Our  plans  at  present  for  the  coming  school 
year  include  the  following  projects.  As  the  work  of  the  year  de- 
velops, these  projects  may  be  modified  in  any  way  that  seems  wise 
or  additional  projects  may  be  organized.  However,  this  enumeration 
will  serve  to  acquaint  the  school  people  of  the  state  with  our  pro- 
posed activities  for  the  coming  year. 

Project  I.  Investigation  of  the  study  habits  of  high  school 
pupils.  This  investigation  was  begun  last  year  and  the  cooperation 
of  over  thirteen  hundred  teachers  secured.  The  data  which  they 
furnished  have  resulted  already  in  the  publication  of  Bulletin  No.  7, 
entitled  "Types  of  Learning  Required  of  Pupils  in  the  Seventh  and 
Eighth  Grades  and  in  the  High  School."    A  series  of  five  diagnostic 

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study  tests  has  been  published  and  will  form  the  basis  of  some  ex- 
perimental work  during  the  coming  school  year.  A  second  bulletin 
relating  to  the  types  of  questions  which  teachers  ask  pupils  has  been 
prepared  and  will  be  published  at  an  early  date.  The  Director  of 
the  Bureau  of  Educational  Research  will  be  glad  to  hear  from  any 
superintendent  or  principal  who  is  interested  in  cooperating  with 
him  in  the  continuation  of  this  investigation. 

Project  II.  Collection  of  difficulties  encountered  in  teach- 
ing and  methods  of  overcoming  these  difficulties.  This  project 
was  initiated  also  during  the  past  school  year.  A  number  of  reports 
have  been  received  from  teachers  and  superintendents  specifying 
particular  difficulties  which  teachers  encounter.  Some  progress  has 
been  made  in  collecting  definite  methods  and  devices  for  overcoming 
these  difficulties.  This  investigation  will  be  continued  during  the 
present  school  year.  It  is  hoped  that  shortly  preliminary  reports 
may  be  issued  for  several  of  the  subjects  taught  in  the  elementary 
school. 

Project  III.    Investigations  relating  to  exceptional  children. 

As  indicated  above,  Miss  Streitz  has  been  employed  for  the  specific 
purpose  of  conducting  research  with  reference  to  the  handling  of 
exceptional  children,  both  dull  and  bright,  and  for  giving  assistance 
to  the  schools  of  the  state  in  connection  with  such  children.  At  the 
present  time  it  is  not  possible  to  announce  the  specific  investigations 
which  will  be  undertaken.  However,  an  attempt  will  be  made  to 
ascertain  what  provisions  have  been  made  for  such  children  in  the 
schools  of  the  state.  The  Director  of  the  Bureau  of  Educational 
Research  will  be  glad  to  receive  suggestions  from  any  one  who  is 
interested  in  any  particular  problem  in  this  field. 

Project  IV.  Specifications  for  self  surveys.  During  the 
past  year  some  preliminary  work  was  done  toward  the  preparation 
of  detailed  specifications  which  would  enable  a  superintendent  and 
his  corps  of  teachers  to  conduct  a  partial  or  complete  survey  of  his 
school  system  with  a  limited  amount  of  assistance  from  the  outside. 
The  preliminary  work  has  indicated  that  such  specifications  would 
make  a  real  contribution.  It  is  now  planned  to  continue  this  work 
and  it  is  hoped  that  these  specifications  will  be  in  such  form  that 
they  may  be  given  a  tryout  by  the  middle  of  the  present  school  year. 
A  more  detailed  announcement  of  this  project  will  be  made  at  a 
later  date. 

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Project  V.  An  investigation  of  written  examinations  set  by 
teachers  or  other  school  officials.  During  the  past  year  the  Bureau 
collected  a  large  number  of  sets  of  examination  questions  from  both 
high  schools  and  elementary  schools.  A  bulletin  entitled  "Written 
Examinations  and  Their  Improvement"  has  been  prepared  and  will 
come  from  the  press  at  an  early  date.  This  bulletin,  however,  does  not 
present  the  results  of  research  but  rather  summarizes  the  arguments 
for  and  against  written  examinations  and  gives  certain  suggestions 
for  their  improvement.  A  detailed  analysis  of  the  examinations 
collected  is  being  made  and  other  research  is  being  carried  on  with 
reference  to  their  reliability  and  other  characteristics.  Since  written 
examinations,  either  at  the  close  of  a  semester  or  at  intervals  during 
the  semester,  have  been,  and  probably  always  will  be,  the  most  fre- 
quently used  type  of  instrument  for  measuring  the  achievements  of 
pupils,  it  is  important  that  we  should  know  more  about  them  and 
that  we  should  endeavor  to  improve  them  as  much  as  possible. 

Forthcoming  bulletins.  During  the  past  year  five  bulletins 
were  prepared  for  publication.  Four  of  them  have  been  received 
from  the  printer  and  distributed.  The  fifth  will  be  ready  for  mailing 
shortly.  The  following  bulletins  are  nearing  completion  and  will  be 
sent  to  the  printer  at  an  early  date: 

Odell,  C.  W.  The  Use  of  Intelligence  Tests  as  a  Basis 
of  School  Organization  and  Instruction. 

Monroe,  W.  S.  and  Foster,  I.  O.  Status  of  the  Social 
Sciences  in  the  High  Schools  of  the  North  Central  Associa- 
tion. 

Monroe,  W.  S.  and  Carter,  R.  E.  Types  of  Questions 
Asked  by  Teachers  in  the  Seventh  and  Eighth  Grades  and 
in  the  High  School. 

Monroe,  Walter  S.  The  Effect  of  Dividing  Classes  into 
Sections  for  the  Purpose  of  Instruction. 

Visitation  of  schools.  During  the  past  year  the  Director  of  the 
Bureau  of  Educational  Research  visited  a  number  of  school  systems 
for  the  purpose  of  discovering  methods  and  devices  for  overcoming 
difficulties  reported  by  teachers.  In  addition  to  observing  some  of 
the  class  room  work  of  the  system,  the  Director,  in  a  few  instances, 
was  invited  to  address  a  group  of  the  local  teachers.  He  was  glad 
to  do  this  and  to  render  services  in  other  ways.    With  the  additions 

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to  our  staff  for  the  coming  year  it  is  hoped  that  it  will  be  possible 
to  increase  materially  the  number  of  visits  to  the  schools  of  the  state. 
The  Director  will  be  glad  to  hear  from  superintendents  and  from 
principals  who  would  welcome  such  visits.  He  is  particularly 
anxious  to  get  in  touch  with  those  schools,  both  elementary  and 
secondary,  which  are  doing  unusual  things  or  which  are  doing  ordi- 
nary things  unusually  well.  He  would  also  like  to  hear  from  super- 
intendents and  principals  who  would  be  interested  in  organizing 
some  experimental  work  during  the  coming  year.  On  the  occasions 
of  such  visits  the  Director,  or  any  other  member  of  the  staff,  will 
be  glad  to  render  such  services  as  he  is  able.  When  a  visit  to  a 
school  system  is  directly  connected  with  some  research  project  of 
the  Bureau  of  Educational  Research  the  school  will  not  be  asked 
to  defray  any  of  the  expenses  of  such  a  visitation. 

Service  to  school  systems  of  the  state.  Early  in  the  present 
calendar  year  a  letter  was  addressed  to  the  city  superintendents 
asking  for  an  indication  of  their  interest  in  certain  types  of  service 
which  the  Bureau  might  render  to  the  schools  of  the  state.  The 
outstanding  characteristic  of  the  responses  was  the  almost  unani- 
mous desire  for  assistance  in  dealing  with  exceptional  children. 
Largely  as  a  result  of  this  indication  of  interest,  Miss  Streitz  was 
added  to  our  staff.  Her  work  will  be  planned  so  that  she  can  accept 
a  limited  number  of  invitations  to  spend  several  days,  when  neces- 
sary, in  a  school  system  for  the  purpose  of  administering  intelligence 
and  other  psychological  tests  and  for  giving  advice  with  reference 
to  the  handling  of  exceptional  children. 

A  number  of  school  systems  in  the  state  are  interested  also  in 
programs  of  intelligence  and  subject-matter  testing  leading  to  the 
reclassification  of  pupils.  Dr.  Odell,  who  has  given  considerable 
attention  to  this  sort  of  work  both  before  and  since  coming  to  the 
University,  will  be  able  to  devote  a  portion  of  his  time  to  visiting 
those  systems  which  desire  his  aid  in  planning  and  executing  such 
a  program. 

All  of  the  members  of  the  Bureau  staff  will  be  available  for  a 
limited  number  of  visits  in  connection  with  other  types  of  service 
which  may  be  rendered  to  the  schools  of  the  state.  For  such  services 
the  school  system  benefited  will  be  expected  to  defray  both  traveling 
and  local  expenses;  there  will  be  no  other  charge. 

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Educational  Research  Circulars  to  be  issued  in  printed 
form.  Last  year  the  Director  of  the  Bureau  of  Educational  Re- 
search inaugurated  the  issuing  of  a  series  of  communications  which 
have  borne  the  title  of  "Educational  Research  Circular."  Eleven 
such  communications  were  sent  out  during  the  school  year.  During 
the  coming  year  the  educational  research  circulars  are  to  be  printed 
and  it  is  hoped  that  the  number  issued  will  be  increased.  They  will 
be  used  to  bring  to  the  attention  of  the  school  people  of  the  state, 
important  articles  and  other  publications  in  the  field  of  education. 
They  will  also  be  used  as  a  means  of  treating  briefly  a  variety  of 
questions  and  topics.  Usually  an  entire  issue  will  be  devoted  to  a 
single  topic.  Among  the  topics  to  be  treated  in  early  numbers  are 
the  following: 

The  use  of  intelligence  tests. 

Difficulties  encountered  in  teaching  arithmetic  and  their 
remedies. 

The  content  of  a  superintendent's  report. 

Methods  of  improving  teachers  in  service. 

The  Director  of  the  Bureau  of  Educational  Research  will  be 
glad  to  receive  suggestions  for  topics  to  be  treated  in  other  commu- 
nications. There  will  be  no  regular  date  of  issue  but  our  plans 
contemplate  the  publication  of  a  circular  every  two  or  three  weeks. 
Our  mailing  list  at  present  includes  the  superintendents  and  principals 
of  high  schools  in  schools  having  six  or  more  teachers.  We  shall  be 
glad  to  add  to  our  mailing  list  the  names  of  any  teachers  or  persons 
interested  in  receiving  these  circulars.  A  limited  number  of  addi- 
tional copies  of  each  circular  will  be  printed  and  will  be  furnished 
to  superintendents  who  wish  to  secure  extra  copies  for  distribution 
among  their  teachers. 

Address  all  communications  to 

WALTER  S.  MONROE,  Director, 

Bureau  of  Educational  Research, 
University  of  Illinois, 
Urbana,  Illinois. 


/I 


V. 


